Geologist explains connection between earthquakes and tsunamis

A University of Cincinnati geologist helped explain to 700-WLW listeners how earthquakes can create tsunamis that threaten people and property around the world.

UC College of Arts and Sciences Professor Craig Dietsch was invited on the Eddie & Rocky Show to talk about the 8.8-magnitude quake that rattled Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on July 29, prompting tsunami warnings in coastal areas as far away as Japan, Hawaii and California.

“This one was way up the scale. The amount of energy released is incredible,“ said Dietsch, head of UC's Department of Geosciences.

Dietsch studies tectonics, among other topics, as head of UC's Department of Geosciences. He leads student field trips to study landscape evolution and other geological features across North America.

“The earthquake happened along a gigantic fault on the boundary of the Pacific Plate,“ Dietsch told 700-WLW. “When the plates get stuck, stresses build up and get suddenly released and you have an earthquake.“

Japan and other Pacific countries called for evacuations as a precaution, but the resulting tsunami was not as powerful as feared, Dietsch said.

Listen to 700-WLW's Eddie & Rocky.

Featured image at top: UC geosciences Professor Craig Dietsch leads students on a field trip in California. Photo/Michael Miller